A few years ago, my friend and I were busily working on a project together. We had been silent for several minutes, each of us concentrating on the work at hand, when she said, “Just think, in a little while this will all be a dream.”
That’s what Right Now does. It slides away into the dream world of memory.
I haven’t seen my friend in a while; she lives a couple states away. But I’m on my way to visit her, happily looking forward to seeing her garden and the chickens she got last spring when they were just fuzzy little peeps. Images of her face float through my mind, and the sound of her laughter—a delicious,musical giggle—plays like a soundtrack as I anticipate the visit.
Right Now holds dreams of tomorrows, too.
But there’s one thing Right Now has on our dreams of the future and of the past. It’s the only place where we can make choices and where we can act. Neale Donald Walsh has this to say about Right Now: “You are, always and forever, in the moment of pure creation. So create who and what you are, and then experience that.”
We can live in the stories about ourselves that we built in the past, or we can choose to frame who we are differently. We can be stronger, and wiser, and kinder, and funnier. Even if we don’t know how; we can pretend and act “as if.” We can decide to adopt an attitude of hope, or of forgiveness, or lightheartedness, or compassion. We can speak or be silent, watch reruns on TV or to go for a walk and see what the sky is doing. We can ask for help, or offer it, call a friend or make a new one. We can nap or we can play or do the work at hand with all the clarity we can muster. Right Now, we can be any way that we want to be. Because Walsh is right. This Now is a moment of creation.
Sometimes, if you just stop for a bit and look around you, you can let wonder flow in, the kind that you felt when you were a small child and everything was fresh and new. You can say, “Wow. Here I am, being human!” And then decide what sort of human you’d like to be Right Now. Awake? Dreamy? Energized? Amused? Brave? Patient? Grateful? Friendly? Hungry? We can imagine that we have the answers and choose to move in the direction that our truest inner self directs.
How do I want to be Right Now? That’s the central question. You always and forever have the choice. And then you get to experience the result, to try it on and see how it feels in the very next Right Now—which is always and forever happening. You can choose to do more of what you did or to try something new.
Some choices take work, and some take a bit of luck. Personally, I have a loose sort of rule to try anything at least twice. I figure if something didn’t work out the first time, maybe it deserves another try. Factors may have been at work that I’m not aware of. If I’m sad, for instance, and decide I’d like to be happier, I’ll put on a smile. If it doesn’t work, I’ll try it again. Sometimes I’ll even go for three times because I’ve heard that “the third time is a charm.” You can make up your own rules. That’s part of choosing.
The key is to remember that you always have a choice. Right Now truly is your moment of creation. It comes with being human. It’s part of the gift.
Right Now, I choose to send you love. Right Now, I choose to stand in joy. Join me?
Warmly,
Susan